Influence Of Hydrogen On Mechanical Properties Of Some Low-Carbon Manganese-Iron Alloys And On Hadfield Manganese Steel

ALTHOUGH the mechanical properties of high-carbon manganese-iron alloys, particularly the Hadfield manganese steels, have been established, the literature discloses discrepancies in the reported properties for the low-carbon alloys. Hadfieldlo summarized the existing data up to 1927, including the investigations of Guillet, Arnold, Strauss, Burgess and Aston, and reported his own values for alloys containing for the most part from 0.06 to 0.15 per cent carbon. He noted: From these comparisons it will be seen that while there is a broad and general agreement as to the character of the alloys at the different manganese percentages, there are disparities in individual cases, especially as regards the degree of toughness or brittleness displayed by an alloy with certain percentages and with particular types of treatment. These differences are not always readily explainable. Ib His data showed that alloys containing 4 to 10 per cent manganese water-quenched from 1000°C. were brittle and hard with maximum brittleness at about 7 per cent. Slight improvement in ductility was obtained with compositions from 10 to 17 per cent manganese. Alloys containing up to 17 per cent manganese slowly cooled rather than quenched from 870°C., he found, were slightly improved in ductility with significant improvement in alloys analyzing 4.1 and 4.8 per cent manganese. Recently Walters, Kramer and Loringa reported mechanical properties for alloys made up from electrolytic manganese and ingot iron and containing from 0.02 to 0.04 per cent carbon. They showed that a tempering treatment at 540°C. (1000°F.) for one hour significantly improved the ductility of compositions ranging from 6.7 to 20.7 per cent manganese. The differences of these compared with Hadfield&apos;s results they considered to originate in this tempering treatment plus the fact that Hadfield&apos;s alloys contained higher carbon and phosphorus (0.06 to 0.15 per cent C; 0.06 to 0.07 per cent P compared with 0.02 to 0.04 per cent C, <0.001 per cent P). In this paper it is shown that of the low- carbon alloys (0.02 to 0.03 per cent) containing from 3.3 to 21.5 per cent manganese moderately or rapidly quenched from 1000°C. some are brittle or ductile, depending on presence or absence of hydrogen. Hydrogen is readily absorbed at high temperatures, and much of it is retained when the alloys are cooled to room temperature. The presence of hydrogen in the range of composition from 10 to 18 per cent manganese is a major factor in determining relative ductility. At 22 per cent manganese, and also at compositions below 10 per cent manganese, factors other than or in addition to hydrogen play a role. These are discussed. Also data are presented to show that hydrogen absorbed by the high-carbon alloys of Hadfield composition is without effect on their mechanical properties.